


In Hindsight's Laser Vision

by RosiePaw



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 15:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosiePaw/pseuds/RosiePaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Posted for <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/collections/mcsheplets_challenges">McSheplets</a> Challenge #58: Hindsight</p>
    </blockquote>





	In Hindsight's Laser Vision

**Author's Note:**

> Posted for [McSheplets](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/mcsheplets_challenges) Challenge #58: Hindsight

In hindsight, three things were all too obvious:

1) Albert would probably have been perfectly happy with an ordinary laser light.

2) Blue was a particularly unfortunate colour choice.

3) Leaving the thing out where John would trip over it accidentally was a mistake comparable to destroying 5/6 of a solar system. 

Now John was gone.  He’d taken not only his car keys and his leather jacket but also his current Russian novel and his _guitar_, leaving Johnny Cash to glower down from the wall.  The worst part was that Rodney knew he deserved the glower.     

Sure, Rodney had always been horrible with people, but he’d certainly accumulated enough data on John Sheppard to predict this reaction to Albert’s new toy.  And sure, after two hours in The Maul – hey, if the spelling fits, use it! – Rodney hadn’t been at his best by the time he sought refuge in Pets Unlimited from the hordes of other humans.  Plus his blood sugar had been getting low.  But the fact remained that he’d bought the toy on impulse.  He’d acted without thinking – without thinking about _John_.  He’d failed to take the time to _apply_ the accumulated data, as if John weren’t worth it.  When he was.  So very much.

Rodney had been a Bad Boyfriend.     

He swore to himself that if – no, _when_ John came back (although the guitar suggested that this would not be soon) he’d make it up to John.

Until then...  “It looks as if it’s just going to be you and me for a while.  At least no one’s going to call you Al.”

Albert rubbed his head against Rodney’s ankle and started purring.

***

In hindsight, John knew he had overreacted.  Sure, tripping over something on the floor and looking down to see _that_ had been quite a shock.  Jumping back from it with a shout (definitely a shout, _not_ a shriek) had been a natural reaction.  Then Rodney had shown up to see what was going on, and John had let loose the first words that came to mind: “McKay!  What in hell is _that_?”

He wasn’t quite clear on the subsequent chain of events.  There had been a lot of yelling on both sides, including some really stupid stuff.  (“It’s Al-bert, not Al!”)  John had needed to get _out_, away from _that thing_, so he’d gone upstairs to grab his jacket and keys and he might have grabbed few more things while he was at it.  But how the hell had he ended up sitting in a diner in a town fifty miles away with _Anna Karenina_ and his frigging guitar?

_Of course_ since Rodney had – as John _now_ realized – been the one to introduce the item into the household, he’d heard John’s question as an implied accusation.  And _of course_ he’d felt guilty and _of course_ he’d tried to cover his guilt with sarcastic belligerence.  That was just how Rodney was, bluster and sarcasm interlayered with bravery and caring in a way that had caught John’s attention and still caught at his heart, that could make him choke up just thinking about it as he sat at this scarred table staring into the dregs of his coffee.  That was _who_ Rodney was.  It was John who should have been able to find a way to keep the situation under control.  But nope, he’d blown it, blown _up_.  God, he was such a freak.

John swore to himself that when – not if, _when_ – he got home, he’d make it up to Rodney.  John owed him that much and so very much more.

And maybe once he’d made things up with Rodney, they could _both_ go after the blinking idiots who’d thought it would be a good idea to manufacture [laser light toys in the shape of 6”-long blue bugs](http://critterbug.com/).


End file.
